Slug casting machine



y 1933. J. H. HILPMAN SLUG' CASTING MACHINE Filed May 5, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 1 I I I l l I x I I l I I I L I I 1 l l ll lllllllllll r II l I l I l I :1

INVENTOR ATTO NEYJ May 2, 1933. J H. HILPMAN SLUG CASTING MACHINE FiledMay 5, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 26% 4 INVENTOR W. M

Patented May 2, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT were; i

JOHN H. HILIPMAN, or HOLLIS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MERGENTHALER LInoTYrECOMPANY, A conroaemron OF new YORK SLUG CASTING MACHINE Applicationfiled May 5,

This invention relates to slug casting machines of the generalorganization represented in U. S. Letters Patent No. 436,532,

to O. Mergenthaler, wherein a printing slug or type bar is cast in aslotted mold against an assembled line of matrices presented momentarilythereto, and wherein the slug after casting is removed from the mold byan ejector which advances from the rear and pushes it forwardly betweena pair of trimming knives into a receiving galley at the front of themachine.

In these machines, the mold equipment is variable or adjustable as tothe length of the mold slot, in order. to produce slugs for printingcolumns or pages of different widths; and in connection with suchadjustable mold equipment, there is frequently employed a compositeejector having its parts so constructed and combined that its operativeportion may be varied in width to correspond with changes in the lengthof the mold slot. As illustrated for instance in Letters Patent of theUnited States, No. 967,976, to John R. Rogers, the ejector blade iscomposed of a series of parallel sections arranged edge to edge, andadjusting mechanism is provided whereby any desired number of thesesections can be connected with the actuating slide, while the others areleft free therefrom. This adjusting mechanism is actuated by a handlever exposed at the front of the machine and which carries a lockingdetent to hold it in its set position.

In practice, it sometimes occurs that the locking detent is accidentallyor unintentionally released and the hand lever displaced from its setposition, with the result that the proper adjustment of the ejectorblade is destroyed. Thus, in selecting a mold for slugs of a givenlength, say 30 ems, the ejector isset to the appropriate width, and ifsuch setting is accidentally or inadvertently disturbed, either too manyor too few of the blade sections will be brought into use and seriousdamage is bound to result. For example, if too many blades are in use,the ejector will be too wide to enterthe'mold slot and, as the bladesections areadvanced in the ejecting operation, some of the blades 1931.Serial No. 535,118.

will strike against the back of the mold and i be broken, or some otherpart of the machine damaged. On the other hand, if too few. of the bladesections are in use, the slug will be ejected only partially (i. e., thelower end of the slug will be pushed forwardly out of the mold slot butthe upper end will merely pivot and will remain therein), and hence,when the mold disc is revolved to bring the mold again into ejecting orcasting position, the protruding portion of, the slug will be broken offby contact with parts of the machine standing in its path, or willdamage such parts, or both. In any case, and at best, recomposition ofthe matrix line and recasting of the slug will be necessary.

To obviate the foregoing and other objectionable features, the presentinvention contemplates safety means whereby the ejector blade adjustingmechanism, when once set in any predetermined position, is automaticallylocked against accidental movement, readjustment, or mal-adjustment.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown merely by way ofexample and in preferred form, but obviously many changes and variationsmay be madetherein which will still be comprised within its spirit.Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is, not limited toany specific form or embodiment, except insofaras such limitations arespecified in the appended claims. I

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a detached view of the ejector and adjusting mechanism, withthe present improvements embodied therein, and showing the mechanismadjusted to its lowest position;

Fig. 2 is a side viewof the adjusting lever, showing the full lines theparts in; 11nlocked condition, and showing by the broken lines the partsrestingin locked condition; and I Fig. 3 is a plan view showingv therelation of the lever and holding detent to the toothed sector; I j IThere are two' general methods followed for casting type bars orslugsfof different lengths, one involving the employment of a so-calledadjustable mold, i. e., one whose mold slot may be shortened orlengthened to the required extent, and the other involving the use of aplurality of interchangeable molds having casting slots of the differentlengths desired. In the present instance, this latter method has beenadopted for purposes of illustration. The several molds, onlyrone ofwhich is shown and which is marked 1 (see Fig. 1), are mounted upon arotatable carrier or disc 2 which is adapted to transport the mold andcontained slug from a horizontal casting position to the verticalposition shown in Fig. 1, where it is located immediately in front of acomposite ejector comprising a series of parallel blades or sec tions 3.The several ejector sections 8 are free to move forward and backwardindependently and are so arranged that any de sired number may bebrought into action conjointly to form an ejector of a widthcorresponding to the length of the slug to be cast, the unused sectionsremaining inactive or at rest in their backward position. The selectionof the requisite number of ejector sections is effected bymeans of avertically movable. bar 6, which is connected to an ejector slide 4actuated through a link 5 from the main shaft of the machine. In orderthat the bar 6 may move forwardly with the ejector slide 4, carryingbefore it these sections which it has connected to the ejector slide byits vertical adjustment, it is slidably mounted at its lower end on ahorizontal rod 7, attached at one end to a vertical slide 8. Theadjustment of the bar 6 to various heights for the selection of agreater or lesser number of the ejector sections is effected by'means ofa hand lever 9, pivotallymounted on a bracket 10, at 10*, and connectedat its rear end with the vertical slide 8. For convenience in operation,the forward end of the lever 9 is fashioned into a handle 9"". Pivotallyattached to the handle 9*, at 12, is a latch handle 11 having a bracket13, formed with a detent 14. This detent 14 is adapted to engage betweenthe teeth 15 of a toothed sector 16 to maintain the lever 9 in its setposition. To hold the detent 14 in locking position, a coil spring 17 islocated between the lever handle and the latch handle, thereby tendingto force the two apart, and is held in place by lugs 18 and 19 formed onthe respective handles, and which project into opposite ends of thespring.

The mechanism already described has been selected merely by way ofexample and to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, suchmechanism being well known and in use upon the commercial linotypemachines. It should be understood, however, that the invention may beadapted to other forms of adjustable ejecting devices and to otherconstructions which present a different form of mechanism from thatherein illustrated. As before stated, the present invenranged to bemoved into and out of locking engagement with the latch handle 11, andfor this purpose the end of the lever handle 9? is bifurcated as at 22,and the lock is pivotally mounted on a' pin 21 extending across saidbifurcation so that it may be rocked forwardly and rearwardly. The upperportion of the lock 20 is thin and of arcuate shape, and to perform itslocking function, it is formed at its upper end with a shoulder 26which, when the lock is rocked rearwardly, is adapted to engage aprojection 27 of the latch handle 11. At its lower end, or below thepivot 21, the lock 20 is formed with a fiat grip portion 20 extendingrearwardly beneath the handle 9 in parallel relation therewith. To holdthe safety lock normally in active position, and to cause it to functionautomatically, a coil spring 23, seated in a recess 24 in the undersideof the lever handle 9, presses downwardly against the grip portion 20,which latter has a projection 25 entering the lower end of thesp ring tohold it in place.

The operation of the parts will now be clear: To disengage the safetylock 20, in order that the holding detent 14 may be released and thehand lever 9 operated, the latch handle 11, the handle 9, and the gripportion 2O are all grasped in the hand of the attendant, the upwardpressure applied to the grip portion 20 tilting the lock 20 forward atits upper end to disengage the locking shoul-,

der 26 from the projection 27. The latch handle 11, now being released,it is next pressed downward toward the handle 9, to retract the detent14 from engagementwith the teeth 15 of the sector 16. The lever handle 9is then free to be moved upwardly or downwardly to lower or raisethe rod6, as the case may be, and thus decrease or increasethe width of theejector blade. When the lever handle has been set in the requiredposition, the attendants grip is released, and the latch handle 11 isforced upwardly by the pressure of its spring 17, thereby engaging thedetent 14 in the proper notch of the toothed sector 16. When the detent14 has seated in the selected notch (limiting the upward movement of thelatch handle 11), the lock 20, under pressure of its spring 23, automatically moves rearward at its upper end to bring the shoulder26 intolocking engage ment with the projection 27, thereby preventing theretraction of the holding detent. In other words, when the shoulder ofthe lock 20 is in looking engagement with the latch handle 11, it isimpossible for theadjustment of the ejector to be changed unless thesafety lock is first released, and held released,

by an upward pressure exerted on the grip portion 20-, followed by adownward pressure on the handle 11. It will be understood, of course,that in making a deliberate change of adjustment of the ejector, theoperator has merely to grasp the handle 9 in the usual way, the pressureexerted on the latch handle 11 and the grip portionQO taking place as ifthose parts formed part of the lever handle itself, as in a sense theydo.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a typographical machine equipped with an ejector variable inwidth, the combination of a hand lever for changing the width of saidejector and presenting an operating handle, a spring-pressed latchhandle pivotally mounted on the lever handle and having a locking detentadapted to hold the lever handle in its set position, and aspring-pressed safety look also pivoted on the lever handle and normallyheld in engagement with the latch handle, the safety lock and the latchhandle being arranged to be gripped and successively disengaged by theattendant in operating the hand lever.

2. A combination as in claim 1, wherein the safety lock is formed at oneend with a shoulder to engage the outer end of the latch handle and atits opposite end with a grip portion extending substantially parallelwith the lever handle.

A combination as in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the leverhandle is bifurcated at its outer end and that the pivoted safety lockis mounted to rock in said bifur cation.

4. In a typographical machine equipped with an ejector variable inwidth, the combination of a hand lever for changing the width of saidejector and presenting an operating handle, a latch handle pivoted onthe upper side of the lever handle and having a locking detent adaptedto hold the lever handle in its set position, a compression springarranged between the lever handle and the latch handle and pressingupwardly on the latter to maintain the locking detent in activeposition, a safety latch pivoted on the lever handle at its outer endand comprising an upper detent portion arranged to engage the latchhandleat its outer end and a lower grip portion arranged on theunderside of the lever handle, and a compression spring arranged betweenthe lever handle and the safety lock grip portion and pressingdownwardly on the latter to maintain the upper detent portion in activeposition, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof, this specification has been duly signed by:

JOHN H. HILPMAN.

